STATEN ISLAND, N.Y.-- Cars and express buses are delayed in crossing the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge heading toward Brooklyn on Thursday morning because of a traffic back up on the Brooklyn Queens Expressway for the second day in a row.

Kathy Healey of Dongan Hills emailed the Advance during a long and frustrating commute on the X9 express bus on her way to work in Manhattan on Thursday morning.

Ms. Healey said that the HOV lane on the Gowanus Expressway was at a standstill for about 40 minutes headed toward the Hugh L. Carey Tunnel. She said that it usually takes an hour by express bus from Hylan Boulevard in Dongan Hills to the 14th Street stop near where she works in Manhattan, but that the commute took two hours on Thursday.

"The MTA announcement came as I was getting off the bus," she said, adding, "The MTA should at least announce something during the problem."

While riding the bus, she emailed the Advance, saying, "We are in gridlock in the HOV lane. It's an outrage for people going to work."